Semiotics: Structuralism

"This guide discusses the nature and development of structuralism and semiotics, calling for a new critical awareness of the ways in which we communicate and drawing attention to their implications for our society. Published in 1977 as the first volume in the New Accents series, Structuralism and Semiotics made crucial debates in critical theory accessible to those with no prior knowledge of the field, thus enacting its own small revolution. Since then a generation of readers has used the book as an entry not only into structuralism and semiotics, but into the wide range of cultural and critical theories underpinned by these approaches." "Structuralism and Semiotics remains the clearest introduction to some of the most important topics in modern critical theory. An afterword and fresh suggestions for further reading ensure that this new edition will become, like its predecessor, the essential starting point for anyone new to the field."--BOOK JACKET.

The first authoritative collection in any language to display the full range of possible applications -- in linguistics, psychology, anthropology, sociology and literature -- of a revolutionary new analytical technique which has dominated French intellectual life in recent years. Claude Lévi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, Edmund Leach, Ferdinand de Saussure, and others among the contributors. Postulating that all forms of human behaviour may be studied as codes, the structuralists apply their methods to phenomena as diverse as primitive marriage systems, fashions, ideologies and poetry.

Jean Piaget offers a foundational introduction to the structuralist method while critically engaging with key theorists such as Claude Lévi-Strauss, Michel Foucault, Talcott Parsons, and Noam Chomsky, and argues for a meaningful future for structuralism across disciplines including psychology, biology, linguistics, and social sciences. He positions structuralism within his broader epistemological project, emphasizing how cognitive structures and developmental processes underlie human understanding, blending his constructivist insights with structuralist perspectives. The work serves both as a rich historical critique and as a thoughtful synthesis, illustrating how structure—and its evolution—fundamentally shapes language, thought, and scientific inquiry.

This series of lectures by some of the most distinguished exponents of Structuralism offers a general introduction to the subject and some suggestions as to the direction of its future development. Though well known on the Continent, Structuralist Theory has so far established itself in Britain only in the specialist fields of linguistics and anthropology, while its more general applications remain unexplored.

This monograph argues that the structuralist movement in linguistics was curtailed prematurely, before its contribution to cognitive science could be fully realized. Building upon Roman Jakobson's pioneering work on the nature of the linguistic sign, a new and detailed appreciation of the role of sign relations in the ultimate structuring of consciousness is presented, proving that the structural approach has as much to contribute today as any current cognitive theory. This study takes the view that the structure which linguistic signs themselves evince should be treated as an organic property of mind in its own right, as the device by which the ultimate differences in meaning in the human cognitive sphere are realized. Adherence to this principle assumes not only that the linguistic sign must be fundamentally monosemic, but also that the level of abstraction at which the relations between signs function must lie beyond the logical or rational level where polysemy is the rule. The study demonstrates that while the conceptual relations or categories uncovered at such a higher-order level of consciousness are of necessity highly abstract and hidden from normal awareness, they are nevertheless neither ineffable nor devoid of content. Rather, the categories identified and defined in this study are shown to have verifiable correlates at the supra-rational level where transpersonal rather than ego-oriented psychology operates, the level that Jung termed the collective unconscious. It is here that we find corresponding properties in reports from altered states of consciousness, in the structure of myths worldwide, as well as in studies of the image-making capacity of the human mind. Ultimately, when the structure of actual linguistic signs is treated as an ordered set of conceptual relations, one necessarily arrives at the conclusion that the sign relations of different languages are anything but Whorfian, but are all pointing to the same universal set of conceptual properties. This set of properties is then shown to be able to account for the relations between signs in all areas of linguistic structure, from the grammatical to the lexical and the syntactic. The monograph goes on to provide a detailed account of the process of making reference, of how speakers are able to contextualize the truly abstract conceptual relations inherent in the structure of signs in their language, to produce a potentially infinite variety of polysemous meanings in actual speech situations at whatever level of concreteness they choose; and how the feedback from such acts of communication determines the evolutionary trajectory of a system of signs conceived as a living organism, specifically as a neuronal structure inherent in the human brain operating as a fundamentally probabilistic or stochastic system.

The updated e‑text edition of Jonathan Culler's influential work, Structuralist Poetics, which offers a rigorous and elegantly articulated framework for understanding structuralist approaches to literature through the lens of linguistics and semiotics. Built upon Culler's development of narrative and poetics theory, the book traces the intersection of structuralism with literary criticism—drawing on linguistic models (like those of Jakobson, Greimas, and structural semantics), unpacking the notion of “literary competence,” and exploring how literary conventions become naturalized. It also addresses the evolution of thought beyond structuralism (e.g., Tel Quel) while maintaining clarity and precision—earning praise for its intellectual richness and stylistic clarity.

Roman Jakobson and Beyond offers a comprehensive exploration of the theoretical and methodological foundations of linguistic sign theory, building on the intertwined work of Roman Jakobson and C. H. van Schooneveld to articulate enduring principles in semiotic and linguistic analysis. Structured as an insightful volume within the Janua Linguarum. Series Maior (Volume 109), it spans approximately 220 pages and systematically engages with phonology, morphophonemics, morphology, syntax, and meaning in context. Originally published by De Gruyter Mouton in 1982 in Berlin and Boston, it has since served as a significant reference in the study of linguistic invariants and sign systems

Claude Lévi-Strauss’s most concise statement of structuralist anthropology, challenging the opposition between “primitive” and “civilized” thought. He argues that all human minds operate with the same logical structures, but apply them differently depending on context. Using the metaphor of the bricoleur—a tinkerer who works with available materials—he contrasts mythic thought (which reuses and recombines concrete images) with scientific thought (which seeks abstract, predictive systems). Myths, to him, are not illogical but reveal deep structural patterns akin to language, with transformations linking variations across cultures. By analyzing totemism, classification systems, and symbolic oppositions (nature/culture, raw/cooked), Lévi-Strauss shows that the “savage mind” is not less rational, but operates according to a logic of concrete analogies, revealing the universal cognitive architecture underlying all human cultures.

In The Raw and the Cooked (1964), the first volume of Lévi-Strauss’s Mythologiques, he analyzes hundreds of South American myths to uncover the deep structures that connect them. Using the opposition between “raw” (nature) and “cooked” (culture) as a central metaphor, he shows how myths transform these themes across societies, reflecting a shared underlying logic. The book demonstrates his structuralist method in action, revealing that diverse narratives are variations on a universal system of symbolic oppositions.

In Mythologies (1957), Roland Barthes dissects everyday cultural phenomena—ads, films, wrestling, wine, even steak and chips—to reveal how they function as modern myths. Drawing on semiotics, he argues that cultural signs are stripped of their historical roots and repackaged as “natural” truths, masking ideological messages, especially those reinforcing bourgeois values. The book’s final essay, “Myth Today,” outlines his theory of myth as a second-order sign system, turning language and images into tools of cultural power.

In S/Z (1970), Roland Barthes performs an exhaustive structuralist and post-structuralist reading of Balzac’s short story Sarrasine, breaking it into 561 segments. He analyzes each through five “codes” — hermeneutic (enigma), proairetic (actions), semic (character traits), symbolic (binary oppositions), and cultural (shared knowledge) — to show how meaning is generated. The work dismantles the idea of a single, authoritative interpretation, revealing literature as an open network of signifiers that invites endless readings.

Risto Heiskala develops a pioneering semiotic sociology by weaving together structuralist semiology (Saussure), pragmatist semiotics (Peirce), and phenomenological sociology (Schütz, Garfinkel, Berger & Luckmann), overcoming the usual view that these schools are incompatible.
He argues that social theory can be reconceptualized: action theories (e.g. Weber, rational choice) are rooted in phenomenological sociology, which itself is grounded in a neo-structuralist semiotics—a unified understanding of how individuals interpret and interact. Through this synthesis, Heiskala offers a robust framework for cultural analysis, addressing key issues like power, modernity, gender, institutionalization, and the social theory tensions of micro vs. macro and agency vs. structure.